Eco friendly disposable plastic bags alternatives

Angelica Alexander
Mar 25, 2021
2 min read

Updated: Apr 10, 2021

Reusable tote bags are a washable and long lasting alternative to disposable plastic bags.

1 trillion plastic bag are used world wide, EACH YEAR! It is estimated that 300 million plastic bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean alone every year!

This affects the environment greatly as a plastic bag alone generates about 33 grams of CO2. This contributes to the 26.4 Gt of CO2 being emitted per year. All of this carbon dioxide gets emitted into the atmosphere. This is extremely bad for us and the world around us as CO2 is a greenhouse gas. When emitted into the earth's atmosphere CO2 creates an invisible layer that traps the sun's heat in the atmosphere. This causes an increase of the planet and oceans temperature. This can cause climate change to occur as ocean are becoming too warm for sea creates to live in and the increase of temperatures is increasing the chance of an natural disaster.

Where do all the plastic bags go when put in the bin though? Plastic bags take at least 1,000 years to decompose! This means that every plastic bag that has ever been

used is somewhere on the planet right now! As the earth consists of 70% ocean this is the new home for plastic bags. There are over 300 million plastic bag in the atlantic ocean alone. This affects sea life greatly as plastic bags are usually mistaken for jellyfish. Therefore, They are consumed, mistaken for food. Which then causes them to digest it and

become extremely sick as consuming plast

ic can prevent food digestion and can lead to a very slow and painful death. If we lose too much sea life our eco system will collapse!

Ways you can help solve this issue is by buying reusable, eco friendly shopping bags. If you buy a reusable, eco friendly bag you could lower the 1 trillion plastic bags being brought each year. It would reduce the amount of waste, energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

The benefits of buying a reusable

shopping bag is....

-Washable -Durable -Aesthetically pleasing -Long lasting -Easier to carry -Cost effective